Aluminum's Brain Impact: The Role of miR-98-5p and IGF2

Aluminum is a common toxin in our environment that can harm our brains. This study looked at how aluminum affects the brain using rats and nerve cells called PC12 cells. The researchers wanted to understand how a small RNA called miR-98-5p affects a protein called insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) when aluminum is present. They divided rats into groups and gave them different amounts of aluminum for three months. They also did the same with PC12 cells for a shorter period. To see how well the rats could learn and remember, they used a water maze test. For the cells, they checked how many were alive and how many died. The results showed that as the amount of aluminum increased, rats took longer to find the platform in the water maze and spent less time in the area where the platform used to be. In the brain's memory center, the cells were fewer and more spread out. Similarly, more PC12 cells died and their growth slowed down. They found that as aluminum increased, so did the levels of miR-98-5p and proteins related to cell death. But the levels of IGF2 and its signals decreased. When they blocked miR-98-5p, the cell death and changes in IGF2 signals improved. This makes us think that miR-98-5p has a big role in how aluminum hurts the brain by affecting IGF2.